Tag: Prince Charles

Happy Commonwealth Day. Last year we used this occasion to note the marked improvement from 2017’s celebration, which was marred by #skigate (a thing only I call it). But it’s just as remarkable to look back at last year and see how far we’ve come once again. Yes, the Cambridges still showed up, but while 2018 saw Kate pregnant with Prince Louis and Meghan still a royal fiancée, this year we have Kate fully back in action and a mother of three, and Meghan a duchess and about a month out from the birth of her first child. What can I say? I love a good annual event – the passage of time is so much easier to track.

Today the Queen hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace in honor of the 50th anniversary of Prince Charles’s investiture as Prince of Wales. Charles was named PoW by his mother at the age of nine in 1958, but not formally invested with the title until the age of 20 in 1969. By his side for the anniversary were his two sons and daughters-in-law, the Dukes and Duchesses of Cambridge and Sussex, as well as his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, and his sister, the Princess Royal.

Ohhh, where to begin with the royal Christmas this year? The meat of it – beyond the photos and the Duchesses’ fashion – is really the reported angst behind the scenes between the Cambridges and Sussexes, so really there is no coverage of this year’s holiday without delving into this a bit.

The Queen hosted a lavish dinner at Buckingham Palace this evening in honor of the Prince of Wales’s 70th birthday. The event was quite the hot ticket…if you own a tiara. It was also a private one, so unfortunately the above photo released by Clarence House is the only formal image we’re going to receive from the evening.

Today is the Prince of Wales’s birthday, marking 70 years since he made his debut at Buckingham Palace just 11 months after his parents’ famous post-war wedding. By the age four he would become the heir to the throne, by 11 he would be created Prince of Wales, by 21 he would be invested with the title and before he turned 30 he would found the Prince’s Trust, a charitable organization that grew from strength to strength and is still flourishing.

Following today’s ceremony at the Cenotaph, the Queen led the British Royal Family at a remembrance service at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day at the close of World War I. Personally I love it when the family gathers at the Abbey – even if it does often signify a solemn occasion – as the optics do such a good job of representing the continuity of the monarchy without saying a word.

For the second year in a row, the Prince of Wales was deputized to lay down a wreath on the Queen’s behalf during Remembrance ceremonies at the Cenotaph. Indeed, this mainstay of the royal calendar has essentially become Charles’s show now that his father is retired and his mother has deemed this event too physically exerting (presumably – we don’t actually know why).

I’ve been out of the loop for the last 10 days, but if ever there was a moment to circle back, it’s in time for the annual Remembrance ceremonies. This evening, the Queen led senior members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Festival of Remembrance at Royal Albert Hall in London to commemorate those who lost their lives during World War I. This year is particularly significant given that tomorrow’s Armistice Day will in fact mark the anniversary’s centenary.

Usually I like to start at the beginning of a day, but for this post we’re going to start with the headline news – the state dinner and the Duchess of Cambridge receiving the Family Order – and work back from there. The big takeaway is that after over seven years of marriage, Kate has finally been given the Elizabeth II Family Order.

Is this question premature? Oh, absolutely. But let’s take a stab at it anyway.

Let’s start with the issue of the title and move on from there. The most obvious question is whether this child will be a prince or princess, but the answer is actually a bit convoluted (of course!). As it stands today, barring any further intervention, the answer is no. So, let’s dig in: